I have personally seen rattlers in the 1970s/early 1980s that would go 10ft or better west of I35. I've seen pics of several held by someone 6ft or over with their arm stretched up with the tail of the rattler on the ground taken around Ft Hood.
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Quite a feat. Biggest one ever recorded was 7.5 feet in length. Would love to see a pic.
My research shows that a 14' 9" snake was killed in Fl. Also, a 11 " snake in Fl. However, I have seen it reported that the largest reported has been 7' 3". My Sis's neighbors are not prone to BS. I did not see the snake myself however.
Relevant text; “Size
The largest reported measurement for a western diamondback rattlesnake is 92.5 inches (Jones, 1997). Interestingly the second largest specimen to be measured was found in Cedar Hill, Texas and measured 92 inches. (Curtis, 1949). While gigantically proportioned specimens such as these are unlikely to be found in the wild again near Dallas, specimens measuring more than five feet in overall length are still found in southwestern Dallas County. The average size for adult specimens is between three to four feet.”
This is cited in several references.
The Eastern Diamondback( Florida, and the southeast) gets bigger, but more so in body weight.
The urban legend of 8’ easterns was so prevalent that Ross Allen offered a $200 reward for any specimen( alive or dead) that measured 8’ or longer back in the 1950s and when I was a kid catching snakes in the 70s and 80s in Florida it went up to $1000.
The reward was never claimed.
calculated for inflation $200 in the early 1950s equates to almost $2000 today.
As many poor rednecks ( myself included ) running around the southeast United States catching snakes you would think someone would have claimed that reward if that snake existed. I know my group tried.
Biggest we ever managed was a couple of 7 footers in the mid 80s.